The Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature. It was created to celebrate the 81 years of discerning, thoughtful criticism Kirkus Reviews has contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large. Books that earned the Kirkus Star with publication dates between November 1, 2014, and October 31, 2015, are automatically nominated for the 2015 Kirkus Prize, and the winners will be selected on October 23, 2015, by an esteemed panel composed of nationally respected writers and highly regarded booksellers, librarians and Kirkus critics.

KIRKUS REVIEW

This jokey debut takes too long to get off the ground, but it does feature a few memorable notions and set pieces. Orphaned twins Vernon and Junior Smith wake one morning to find a 700-foot spaceship in their backyard—followed shortly thereafter by the arrival of menacing Pennsylvania Tax Collector Third Class Alton Webershreber, bearing a sales tax bill for $1,800,960.29, due immediately. With the help of Thinker, a vain onboard robot from the future, the twins evade Webershreber long enough to blast off in a bid to raise the money through a bit of interstellar trade. Hunt portrays the twins as expert bargainers (they quickly make a killing selling water to a drought-stricken planet), but he commits the rookie mistake of explaining too much at the beginning, and gets so wrapped up in lampooning adults that he sometimes forgets to keep the story moving along. Toward the end, Thinker makes a snide comment about how primitive humans haven’t discovered yet that Levity counteracts Gravity. This intriguing principle is certainly in operation here, but so weakly that the ride’s a bumpy one. Sequels probable. (Science fiction. 9-11)

Be the first to discover new talent!
Each week, our editors select the one author and one book they believe to be most worthy of your attention and highlight them in our Pro Connect email alert.
Sign up here to receive your FREE alerts.